The Role of Diet in the Cardiovascular Health of Childhood Cancer Survivors-A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) face an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This systematic review aims to provide the first synthesis of observational and interventional studies on the relationship between diet and cardiovascular health in CCSs. METHODS: A comprehensive search was conducted for studies published between 1990 and July 2023 in PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, and Cochrane Library. Eligible studies included observational and interventional studies examining the associations or effects of dietary factors on CVD incidence, cardiac dysfunction, or CVD risk factors in CCSs diagnosed before age 25 years. RESULTS: Ten studies met the inclusion criteria (nine observational and one interventional). Collectively, they comprised 3485 CCSs (male, 1734; female, 1751). The outcomes examined across observational studies included characteristics of obesity, diabetes biomarkers, hypertension indicators, dyslipidaemia biomarkers, and metabolic syndrome. The evidence suggested that greater adherence to healthy diets was associated with lower body mass index, blood pressure, glucose, and triglycerides and higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The 12-week lifestyle intervention study in childhood leukaemia survivors found no impact on obesity indicators. CONCLUSION: The review results indicate the potentially protective effects of healthy diets. However, the available research remains preliminary and limited, underscoring the need for more rigorous, adequately powered studies.

Adaptive Metabolic Responses Facilitate Blood-Brain Barrier Repair in Ischemic Stroke via BHB-Mediated Epigenetic Modification of ZO-1 Expression.

Adaptive metabolic responses and innate metabolites hold promising therapeutic potential for stroke, while targeted interventions require a thorough understanding of underlying mechanisms. Adiposity is a noted modifiable metabolic risk factor for stroke, and recent research suggests that it benefits neurological rehabilitation. During the early phase of experimental stroke, the lipidomic results showed that fat depots underwent pronounced lipolysis and released fatty acids (FAs) that feed into consequent hepatic FA oxidation and ketogenesis. Systemic supplementation with the predominant ketone beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) is found to exert discernible effects on preserving blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity and facilitating neuroinflammation resolution. Meanwhile, blocking FAO-ketogenesis processes by administration of CPT1α antagonist or shRNA targeting HMGCS2 exacerbated endothelial damage and aggravated stroke severity, whereas BHB supplementation blunted these injuries. Mechanistically, it is unveiled that BHB infusion is taken up by monocarboxylic acid transporter 1 (MCT1) specifically expressed in cerebral endothelium and upregulated the expression of tight junction protein ZO-1 by enhancing local ß-hydroxybutyrylation of H3K9 at the promoter of TJP1 gene. Conclusively, an adaptive metabolic mechanism is elucidated by which acute lipolysis stimulates FAO-ketogenesis processes to restore BBB integrity after stroke. Ketogenesis functions as an early metabolic responder to restrain stroke progression, providing novel prospectives for clinical translation.

Seaweeds as a major source of dietary microplastics exposure in East Asia.

Microplastics (MPs) occurrence in marine ecosystems is well known, but their accumulation in seaweeds and subsequent human exposure remain understudied. This research quantifies MPs presence in two commonly consumed seaweeds, kelp (Saccharina japonica) and nori (Pyropia yezoensis), in East Asia, revealing widespread contamination dominated by microfibers (<500 µm). Based on dietary patterns, human uptake through seaweed consumption was estimated and quantified. Notably, Chinese people consume an estimated 17,034 MPs/person/year through seaweed consumption, representing 13.1% of their total annual MPs intake. This seaweeds-derived exposure surpasses all other dietary sources, contributing up to 45.5% of overall MPs intake. The highest intake was in South Korea, followed by North Korea, China, and Japan. This research identifies seaweeds as a major, previously overlooked route of dietary MPs exposure. These findings are crucial for comprehensive risk assessments of seaweed consumption and the development of mitigation strategies, particularly for populations in East Asian countries.

Integration of Whole-Genome Resequencing and Transcriptome Sequencing Reveals Candidate Genes in High Glossiness of Eggshell.

Eggshell gloss is an important characteristic for the manifestation of eggshell appearance. However, no study has yet identified potential candidate genes for eggshell gloss between high-gloss (HG) and low-gloss (LG) chickens. The aim of this study was to perform a preliminary investigation into the formation mechanism of eggshell gloss and to identify potential genes. The eggshell gloss of 300-day-old Rhode Island Red hens was measured from three aspects. Uterine tissues of the selected HG and LG (n = 5) hens were collected for RNA-seq. Blood samples were also collected for whole-genome resequencing (WGRS). RNA-seq analysis showed that 150 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the uterine tissues of HG and LG hens. These DEGs were mainly enriched in the calcium signaling pathway and the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway. Importantly, these two pathways were also significantly enriched in the WGRS analysis results. Further joint analysis of WGRS and RNA-seq data revealed that 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 1F (HTR1F), zinc finger protein 536 (ZNF536), NEDD8 ubiquitin-like modifier (NEDD8), nerve growth factor (NGF) and calmodulin 1 (CALM1) are potential candidate genes for eggshell gloss. In summary, our research provides a reference for the study of eggshell gloss and lays a foundation for improving egg glossiness in layer breeding.

Rewritable printing of ionic liquid nanofilm utilizing focused ion beam induced film wetting.

Manipulating liquid flow over open solid substrate at nanoscale is important for printing, sensing, and energy devices. The predominant methods of liquid maneuvering usually involve complicated surface fabrications, while recent attempts employing external stimuli face difficulties in attaining nanoscale flow control. Here we report a largely unexplored ion beam induced film wetting (IBFW) technology for open surface nanofluidics. Local electrostatic forces, which are generated by the unique charging effect of Helium focused ion beam (HFIB), induce precursor film of ionic liquid and the disjoining pressure propels and stabilizes the nanofilm with desired patterns. The IBFW technique eliminates the complicated surface fabrication procedures to achieve nanoscale flow in a controllable and rewritable manner. By combining with electrochemical deposition, various solid materials with desired patterns can be produced.

Life expectancy and emission trading scheme: a case study in China.

Life expectancy can reflect both health benefit and implementation cost of climate policy. Nevertheless, little research has quantified the relation between life expectancy and climate policy in literature. In this paper, we attempt to narrow the research gap by studying how life expectancy is related to the Chinese nationwide emission trading scheme (CNETS). To achieve this research target, a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model is employed to simulate the operation of the economic system and the policy shock from emission abatement. The CGE model results show that life expectancy is prolonged by GDP but shortened by emissions, and the GDP impact on life expectancy is larger than the emission impact. Climate policy has dual effects on life expectancy because it relieves both negative emission impacts and positive GDP impacts on lifespan; its net effect on life expectancy is positive. Life expectancy positively impacts GDP, and this impact is moderated by climate policy; specifically, climate policy reinforces the positive impact of life expectancy on GDP. Life expectancy minimally affects carbon emissions during climate policy implementation; in other words, it has minimal impacts on emission abatement. These findings imply that climate policy and life expectancy complement each other; the government could implement climate policy to increase lifespan or prolong life expectancy to facilitate policy implementation.

Preparation of starch-palmitic acid complexes by three different starches: A comparative study using the method of heating treatment and autoclaving treatment.

Recent research emphasizes the growing importance of starch-lipid complexes due to their anti-digestibility ability, prompting a need to explore the impact of different starch sources and preparation methods on their properties. In this study, starch-palmitic acid (PA) complexes were prepared by three different starches including Tartary buckwheat starch (TBS), potato starch (PTS), and pea starch (PS) by heating treatment (HT) and autoclaving treatment (AT), respectively, and their physicochemical property and in vitro digestibility were systematically compared. The formation of the starch-PA complex was confirmed through various characterization techniques, including scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Among the complexes, the PTS-PA complex exhibited the highest complexation index over 80 %, while the PS-PA complex had the lowest rapid digestible starch content (56.49-59.42 %). Additionally, the complexes prepared by AT exhibited higher resistant starch content (41.95-32.46 %) than those prepared by HT (31.42-32.49 %), while the complexes prepared by HT held better freeze-thaw stability and hydration ability than those prepared by AT. This study highlights the important role of starch sources in the physicochemical and digestibility properties of starch-lipid complex and the potential application of AT in the preparation of novel resistant starch.

Interpretable machine learning model to predict surgical difficulty in laparoscopic resection for rectal cancer.

Background: Laparoscopic total mesorectal excision (LaTME) is standard surgical methods for rectal cancer, and LaTME operation is a challenging procedure. This study is intended to use machine learning to develop and validate prediction models for surgical difficulty of LaTME in patients with rectal cancer and compare these models' performance. Methods: We retrospectively collected the preoperative clinical and MRI pelvimetry parameter of rectal cancer patients who underwent laparoscopic total mesorectal resection from 2017 to 2022. The difficulty of LaTME was defined according to the scoring criteria reported by Escal. Patients were randomly divided into training group (80%) and test group (20%). We selected independent influencing features using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariate logistic regression method. Adopt synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) to alleviate the class imbalance problem. Six machine learning model were developed: light gradient boosting machine (LGBM); categorical boosting (CatBoost); extreme gradient boost (XGBoost), logistic regression (LR); random forests (RF); multilayer perceptron (MLP). The area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and F1 score were used to evaluate the performance of the model. The Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) analysis provided interpretation for the best machine learning model. Further decision curve analysis (DCA) was used to evaluate the clinical manifestations of the model. Results: A total of 626 patients were included. LASSO regression analysis shows that tumor height, prognostic nutrition index (PNI), pelvic inlet, pelvic outlet, sacrococcygeal distance, mesorectal fat area and angle 5 (the angle between the apex of the sacral angle and the lower edge of the pubic bone) are the predictor variables of the machine learning model. In addition, the correlation heatmap shows that there is no significant correlation between these seven variables. When predicting the difficulty of LaTME surgery, the XGBoost model performed best among the six machine learning models (AUROC=0.855). Based on the decision curve analysis (DCA) results, the XGBoost model is also superior, and feature importance analysis shows that tumor height is the most important variable among the seven factors. Conclusions: This study developed an XGBoost model to predict the difficulty of LaTME surgery. This model can help clinicians quickly and accurately predict the difficulty of surgery and adopt individualized surgical methods.

Adequately increasing the wheat B-starch ratio can improve the structure-properties of dough during freeze-thaw cycles: Mechanisms and conformational relations.

To reveal the influence of wheat starch particle size distribution on frozen dough quality, this study reconstituted A/B starch according to 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75 and 0:100 and prepared reconstituted dough by compounding with gluten proteins. Further, the freeze-thaw cycle of 1, 3, and 9 times for reconstituted dough was performed to investigate its ratio-regulatory role of A- and B-starch. The results showed that the freeze-thaw cycle induced gluten network breakage and starch granule exposure in doughs mainly by disrupting disulfide and hydrogen bonds between gluten protein molecules and upsetting their secondary structures, leading to a reduction in GMP and polymer protein content and an increase in freezing water content. Moreover, a moderate increase (25-50 %) in the B-starch proportion can minimize gluten protein deterioration by freeze-thaw cycles. However, excessive B-starch amounts (75-100 %) can also adversely affect gluten structure. The prepared dumpling wrappers under the 50A-50B ratio showed optimal steaming loss rate, hardness, and chewiness during the freeze-thaw cycle. Correlation analysis indicated that the B-starch ratio and its filling pattern improved dough freeze-thaw deterioration primarily by affecting dough-free sulfhydryl content, protein molecular weight distribution, secondary structure, and ΔH. The results may provide insights and guidelines for product development and storage for frozen pasta.

Reforestation regulated soil bacterial community structure along vertical profiles in the Loess Plateau.

Introduction: Reforestation is a widely used strategy for ecological restoration in areas facing ecological degradation. Soil bacteria regulate many functional processes in terrestrial ecosystems; however, how they respond to reforestation processes in surface and deep soils remains unclear. Methods: Artificial Robinia pseudoacacia plantation with different stand ages (8, 22, and 32 years) in a typical fallow forest on the Loess Plateau was selected to explore the differential response of soil bacterial community to reforestation in different soil depths (surface 0-200 cm, middle 200-500 cm, and deep 500-100 cm). Soil bacterial diversity, community composition and the co-occurrence patterns, as well as the functions were analyzed. Results and discussion: The results showed that alpha diversity and the presence of biomarkers (keynote species) decreased with the increasing soil depth, with a sharp reduction in family-level biomarker numbers in 500-1,000 cm depth, while reforestation had a positive impact on bacterial alpha diversity and biomarkers. Reforestation induced a more loosely connected bacterial community, as evidenced by an increase of 9.38, 22.87, and 37.26% in the average path length of the co-occurrence network in all three soil layers, compared to farmland. In addition, reforestation reduced the hierarchy and complexity but increased the modularity of the co-occurrence network in top and deep soil layers. Reforestation also led to enrichment in the relative abundance of functional pathways in all soil layers. This study sheds light on the strategies employed by deep soil bacteria in response to reforestation and underscores the significant potential of deep soil bacteria in terrestrial ecosystems, particularly in the context of human-induced environmental changes.

Noncoding RNAs regulating ferroptosis in cardiovascular diseases: novel roles and therapeutic strategies.

The morbidity and mortality rates of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are increasing; thus, they impose substantial health and economic burdens worldwide, and effective interventions are needed for immediate resolution of this issue. Recent studies have suggested that noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) play critical roles in the occurrence and development of CVDs and are potential therapeutic targets and novel biomarkers for these diseases. Newly discovered modes of cell death, including necroptosis, pyroptosis, apoptosis, autophagy-dependent cell death and ferroptosis, also play key roles in CVD progression. However, ferroptosis, which differs from the other aforementioned forms of regulated cell death in terms of cell morphology, biochemistry and inhereditability, is a unique iron-dependent mode of nonapoptotic cell death induced by abnormal iron metabolism and excessive accumulation of iron-dependent lipid peroxides and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Increasing evidence has confirmed that ncRNA-mediated ferroptosis is involved in regulating tissue homeostasis and CVD-related pathophysiological conditions, such as cardiac ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, myocardial infarction (MI), atrial fibrillation (AF), cardiomyopathy and heart failure (HF). In this review, we summarize the underlying mechanism of ferroptosis, discuss the pathophysiological effects of ncRNA-mediated ferroptosis in CVDs and provide ideas for effective therapeutic strategies.

Holistic bursting cells store long-term memory in auditory cortex.

The sensory neocortex has been suggested to be a substrate for long-term memory storage, yet which exact single cells could be specific candidates underlying such long-term memory storage remained neither known nor visible for over a century. Here, using a combination of day-by-day two-photon Ca2+ imaging and targeted single-cell loose-patch recording in an auditory associative learning paradigm with composite sounds in male mice, we reveal sparsely distributed neurons in layer 2/3 of auditory cortex emerged step-wise from quiescence into bursting mode, which then invariably expressed holistic information of the learned composite sounds, referred to as holistic bursting (HB) cells. Notably, it was not shuffled populations but the same sparse HB cells that embodied the behavioral relevance of the learned composite sounds, pinpointing HB cells as physiologically-defined single-cell candidates of an engram underlying long-term memory storage in auditory cortex.

Extracting Technicians' Skills for Human-Machine Collaboration in Aircraft Assembly.

Research on the efficiency and quality issues faced in aircraft assembly was conducted in this article. A new method of human-machine collaborative riveting was proposed, which combined the flexibility of manual collaboration with the precise control of automatic riveting. The research works include: (1) a theoretical model of pneumatic hammer riveting was established to clarify the principle and parameters of riveting process. (2) A smart bucking bar was designed to support the data collection and extraction of manual collaborative riveting process. (3) An automatic riveting experimental platform was designed to test the automatic riveting process incorporating the extracted manual riveting process parameters, and further an optimization strategy was proposed for the automatic riveting process. (4) A human-machine collaborative riveting experimental platform was developed to conduct the verification work. Through the theoretical analysis, experimental research, system scheme design, and process parameters optimization, the application and verification of human-machine collaborative assembly technology have been achieved. This technology is expected to be comprehensively promoted in the field of aircraft manufacturing, and for breaking through the current difficulties of low production efficiency and poor assembly quality control.

Mesenchymal stromal cells alleviate depressive and anxiety-like behaviors via a lung vagal-to-brain axis in male mice.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common and disabling mental disorders, and current strategies remain inadequate. Although mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have shown beneficial effects in experimental models of depression, underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, using murine depression models, we demonstrated that MSCs could alleviate depressive and anxiety-like behaviors not due to a reduction in proinflammatory cytokines, but rather activation of dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) neurons. Mechanistically, peripheral delivery of MSCs activated pulmonary innervating vagal sensory neurons, which projected to the nucleus tractus solitarius, inducing the release of 5-HT in DRN. Furthermore, MSC-secreted brain-derived neurotrophic factor activated lung sensory neurons through tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB), and inhalation of a TrkB agonist also achieved significant therapeutic effects in male mice. This study reveals a role of peripheral MSCs in regulating central nervous system function and demonstrates a potential "lung vagal-to-brain axis" strategy for MDD.

DelicacyNet for nutritional evaluation of recipes.

In this paper, we are interested in how computers can be used to better serve us humans, such as helping humans control their nutrient intake, with higher level shortcuts. Specifically, the neural network model was used to help humans identify and analyze the content and proportion of nutrients in daily food intake, so as to help humans autonomously choose and reasonably match diets. In this study, we formed the program we wanted to obtain by establishing four modules, in which the imagination module sampled the environment, then relied on the encoder to extract the implicit features of the image, and finally relied on the decoder to obtain the required feature vector from the implicit features, and converted it into the battalion formation table information through the semantic output module. Finally, the model achieved extremely high accuracy on recipe1M+ and food2K datasets.

Dual-band metasurface generating multiple OAM beams independently in full polarizations.

In this paper, a dual-band metasurface (MS) generating multiple orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams independently in full polarizations is proposed. First, the design principle of controlling full polarizations independently is analyzed. Second, the frequency selective surface is introduced to the meta-atom design that ensures the meta-atom operates at Ku- and Ka-band independently, while, at each band, sixteen optimized meta-atoms realize the high reflection amplitude and enough phase coverage. Next, the optimized dual-band meta-atom controlling full polarizations independently is utilized to design the MS, which could generate eight independent OAM beams including the x-polarized, y-polarized, left hand circularly polarized, and right hand circularly polarized OAM beams at dual-band. Finally, the MS is designed, fabricated, and measured. Both simulated and measured results verify that the proposed MS could generate multiple OAM beams in full polarizations at dual-band, showing the perspective in the OAM-based area, such as the wireless communication, target detection, and security encryption.

Giant enhancement of second-harmonic generation of indium selenide on planar Au.

Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals layered γ-type indium selenide (γ-InSe) holds great promise for the development of ultrathin and low-energy-consumption nonlinear optical devices due to its broken inversion symmetry regardless of layer number. Nevertheless, the 2D InSe thin flakes still exhibit short light-matter interaction lengths, thus resulting in low efficiencies of nonlinear optical processes. In this work, we provide a facile 2D semiconductor-metal structure consisting of InSe thin flakes (thickness: 11-54 nm) on planar Au film, which exhibits great second-harmonic generation (SHG) enhancement by a factor of up to 1182. The SHG enhancement is attributed to the interference effect-induced strong electric field in highly absorbing InSe; meanwhile, the increase in reflectivity by Au film also plays an important role. Furthermore, the InSe thickness and excitation wavelength dependences of enhancement factors are revealed. This work provides a convenient approach to developing high-efficiency 2D nonlinear optical devices with ultrathin form.

Ten-kilohertz two-photon microscopy imaging of single-cell dendritic activity and hemodynamics in vivo.

Significance: The studying of rapid neuronal signaling across large spatial scales in intact, living brains requires both high temporal resolution and versatility of the measurement device. Aim: We introduce a high-speed two-photon microscope based on a custom-built acousto-optic deflector (AOD). This microscope has a maximum line scan frequency of 400 kHz and a maximum frame rate of 10,000 frames per second (fps) at 250 × 40 pixels . For stepwise magnification from population view to subcellular view with high spatial and temporal resolution, we combined the AOD with resonance-galvo (RS) scanning. Approach: With this combinatorial device that supports both large-view navigation and small-view high-speed imaging, we measured dendritic calcium propagation velocity and the velocity of single red blood cells (RBCs). Results: We measured dendritic calcium propagation velocity ( 80 / 62.5 - 116.7 µ m / ms ) in OGB-1-labeled single cortical neurons in mice in vivo. To benchmark the spatial precision and detection sensitivity of measurement in vivo, we also visualized the trajectories of single RBCs and found that their movement speed follows Poiseuille's law of laminar flow. Conclusions: This proof-of-concept methodological development shows that the combination of AOD and RS scanning two-photon microscopy provides both versatility and precision for quantitative analysis of single neuronal activities and hemodynamics in vivo.

Federated learning via over-the-air computation in IRS-assisted UAV communications.

Intelligent reflective surface (IRS) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication are two key technologies in the sixth generation of mobile communication (6G). In this paper, IRS is equipped on UAV to form aerial IRS, which can achieve 360° panoramic full-angle reflection and flexible deployment of IRS. In order to achieve high-quality and ubiquitous network coverage under data privacy and low latency requirements, we propose an Federated learning (FL) network via Over-the-Air computation (AirComp) in IRS-assisted UAV communications. Our goal is to minimize the worst-case mean square error (MSE) by jointly optimizing the IRS phase shift, denoising factor for noise suppression, the user's transmission power, and UAV trajectory. Optimizing and quickly adjusting the UAV position and IRS phase shift, it flexibly assists the signal transmission between users and base stations (BS). In order to solve this complex non-convex problem, we propose a low-complexity iterative algorithm, which divides the original problem into four sub-problems, respectively using the semi-definite programming (SDP) method, slack variable introduction method, successive convex approximation (SCA) method to solve each sub-problem. Through the analysis of simulation results, our proposed design scheme is obviously better than other benchmark schemes.

Rabies virus-based labeling of layer 6 corticothalamic neurons for two-photon imaging in vivo.

Neocortical layer 6 (L6) is less understood than other more superficial layers, largely owing to limitations of performing high-resolution investigations in vivo. Here, we show that labeling with the Challenge Virus Standard (CVS) rabies virus strain enables high-quality imaging of L6 neurons by conventional two-photon microscopes. CVS virus injection into the medial geniculate body can selectively label L6 neurons in the auditory cortex. Only three days after injection, dendrites and cell bodies of L6 neurons could be imaged across all cortical layers. Ca2+ imaging in awake mice showed that sound stimulation evokes neuronal responses from cell bodies with minimal contamination from neuropil signals. In addition, dendritic Ca2+ imaging revealed significant responses from spines and trunks across all layers. These results demonstrate a reliable method capable of rapid, high-quality labeling of L6 neurons that can be readily extended to other brain regions.